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Big Ten Basketball: Conference tournament preview and predictions

By Bryce Bennett

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Dec 28, 2014; Madison, WI, USA; The Big Ten Conference logo on the Kohl Center Court during pre-game warm-ups before the Wisconsin Badgers take to the floor to play the Buffalo Bulls at the Kohl Center. Mandatory Credit: Mary Langenfeld-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 28, 2014; Madison, WI, USA; The Big Ten Conference logo on the Kohl Center Court during pre-game warm-ups before the Wisconsin Badgers take to the floor to play the Buffalo Bulls at the Kohl Center. Mandatory Credit: Mary Langenfeld-USA TODAY Sports /

The Big Ten basketball conference tournament tips off today in Indianapolis and will be the final conference to crown its champion before the brackets are revealed on March 13th.

The regular season champion, Indiana Hoosiers, will try for their first conference championship ever. They enter the tournament playing about as well as any team in the country and should have their rabid fan base backing them in the friendly confines of Bankers Life Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis. However, they are not without formidable challengers.

Let’s start with the Michigan State Spartans. Led by B1G Player of the Year, Denzel Valentine, the Spartans are hot and looking for a conference championship to convert to a number one seed in the general tournament.

Can the Maryland Terrapins live up to its early season expectations and use the talent in their starting lineup to make a run to the championship game?

Will the Purdue Boilermakers, the tournament’s four-seed, avenge earlier losses to Iowa and Indiana to make a run for their first conference tournament win since 2009?

Can the Iowa Hawkeyes regain their early season swagger? The team from Iowa City got off to a blistering 10-2 start in conference play with season sweeps of Michigan State and Purdue, but was just 2-4 in their last six games.

Or will it be a surprise from the middle of the pack? The Wisconsin Badgers finished their last twelve games at 10-2 and own victories over all the top teams except Purdue. The Michigan Wolverines and Ohio State Buckeyes are desperate for a tournament run to propel them to a  safe bid to the NCAA tourney. Below is the bracket for this weekend. The next slides are the predicted finishers for this year’s tournament. Enjoy the breakdown and the games!

Next: 14. Rutgers Scarlet Knights

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